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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

no routine 6wk old

20 replies

margherita76 · 14/10/2010 10:31

My BF 6 wk old DD doesn't seem to have any kind of routine - nothing even resembling it. She feeds for no longer than 10 mins at a time and is often on off for an hour or so. I want one of those babies that feeds constantly for half an hour and then sleeps for 3! Seriously though - is this constant snacking because I am so utterly disorganised / chaotic that I can't even remember to properly check the time?! Should I try and implement some kind of baby whispering like routine? I don't feel particularly stressed about it but I am just wondering (as you do) and I would also like to be able to get out and about without worrying where I'll feed her. I am happy to Bf in public ( a cafe) but if I were to go somewhere every time I needed to I would be broke and I am not at the whipping out a boob walking up the high street stage. In fact I can't even sit down under the local pagoda as there are too many hobos where I live. anyway, I digress...

OP posts:

Original poster

margherita76 · 14/10/2010 10:37

Also, if she is grizzling I will offer her a feed, whereas perhaps I should wait til she is showing definite signs of hunger?! Oh, I don't know.

OP posts:

MrsGravy · 14/10/2010 10:39

Totally normal. I think 'those babies that feed constantly for half an hour and then sleep for 3' are actually mythical creatures, I've certainly never had one

What happens after the 10 minutes? Does she fall asleep? If so you could try and strip her/tickle her feet etc to try and get her to wake up and take a proper feed. Or maybe try swapping her to the other boob? Sometimes mine like the big gush of milk you get at the start of a feed and don't want to work hard for a slower flow.

Otherwise it'll probably space out a bit as she gets older and her tummy gets bigger.

MrsGravy · 14/10/2010 10:40

I wouldn't leave her to properly cry for food personally - it might make it hard to get her to latch on properly and fill her with wind!

Original poster

margherita76 · 14/10/2010 11:16

After 10 mins she either falls asleep or cries again sO I'll often stand up to wind her - which stops her and then wait and offer more. It just ends up being a bit of a battle ( for me) sometimes. On reflection perhaps it's just because I want to sit down and zone out on MN!

I think what you say about working harder for the slower flow might be true - i think my milk which has been really gushing has started to settle down. Could be that she is just used to having really fast flowing milk

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getstuffed · 14/10/2010 12:00

My 3 wk old has just started on the 10 minute thing, nightmare, battling to wake him and get more in!

Just about hanging on in there x

MoonFaceMama · 14/10/2010 13:55

Hi Margherita,

COngratulations! I'm not reall one for routine in my own life and DH works odd houurs so it has never suited us to try and get our 8mo ds into a routine. But at around six or seven weeks I do recall things getting a bit easier' not a routine, but feeling like my head was above water iykwim!

After that it kept getting easier till one point, at about three months, when I couldn't figure out what was wong with ds. He grizzzled when I put him on the boob and seemed disinterested. Then I realised he wasn't hungry! Doh! I was still trying to feed him like a newborn and he was more efficient and didn't need it as often!

Obviously all babies are different (someone will be alongin a sec to say their 18yo is like this too ) but this was my experience. Hope it settles donw for you soon!

Haggisfish · 14/10/2010 18:14

mine was like this, but I found when I did actually go out, she wouldn't demand to be fed as often ,and would feed for longer when she did have a feed - maybe demand every hour/every other hour for about ten minutes? I went to cafes and places where I knew I could feed if necessary.

MoonFaceMama · 14/10/2010 18:22

Ah yes Haggisfish, that's a good point. Think the motion in the car/sling/buggy kept him quite happy for the most part.

Original poster

margherita76 · 14/10/2010 18:39

thank you everyone, and moonface for the congrats!

she is quite snuffly and mucousy and I think it is making me more aware of what she is doing IYSWIM - rather than that there is anything real to worry about. I took her out this afternoon and afterwards she did have a longer feed and is now asleep. ahhhhhhhAnd I have no idea how much she weighs but she is hardly wasting away.

Do any of you have experience of dummies I mean soothers. She gags and doesn't want it. Should I just leave it at that? I am doing it because she goes for her fingers and I would rather she had a dummy than sucked her thumb til she was 30 odd like some people in my family!

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MoonUnitAlpha · 14/10/2010 19:30

At about 6 weeks I introduced a bit more of a schedule for feeding - my ds was also a ten minute snacker at least every hour. I don't mind feeding in public but also prefer somewhere more convenient/comfortable than perched on a wall. I started off one day by just persuading him to take a full feed first thing in the morning, kept him awake, offered both breasts - over a couple of days I worked up til bigger feeds every 2.5 hours.

Now at 10 weeks I feedhim roughly every 3 hours with top ups before naps. Generally I'm offering feeds before he cries for it and I always offer earlier than scheduled if he seems hungry.

I offered a dummy at around 4 weeks but he gagged and spat it out - he's only really "got" it in the last couple of weeks.

AngelDog · 14/10/2010 20:23

There is a growth spurt at 6 weeks which means many babies are fussy feeders.

Young baby unsettledness (general unsettledness, that is) often peaks around 6-8 weeks.

I wouldn't use a dummy unless you feel you need to. My 9 m.o. DS never really took to a dummy (I did use it a bit to help him sleep at points but I had to hold it in his mouth as he'd spit it out otherwise). But he doesn't suck his thumb either.

ayjayjay · 14/10/2010 20:47

My DD also took a dummy at about 4 weeks. I used the old style cherry type because she didn't get on with the flat ones. Initially I had to hold it in for a bit until she worked out how to suck it.

It's probably best not to worry too much about a routine at this stage. I do understand how frustrating it must feel at the moment though, my DD was exactly the same and at 6 weeks I was feeling much the same as you. DD is 14 weeks on saturday and she is still feeding every 2 hours. I found once I accepted that she wasn't going to feed for 30mins every 3 hours and just went with flow everthing got easier because I wasn't fighting against her instincts.

Also agree with those who say baby will feed less when out and about. If I'm out shopping and baby is in the car or pram she can sometimes go 4 or 5 hours without a feed. She will never do this if we are just sitting about indoors.

petisa · 14/10/2010 21:44

My 7 week old doesn't have a routine, except that she wakes at roughly the same times at night. I'm finding it very stressful at the moment as I have a toddler and the baby wants to feed all day, practically every hour, and she hardly sleeps during the day, only for 15 mins at a time.

But I'm too lazy to try and instill a routine as such, I think it would be too stressful if the baby didn't do what I wanted when I wanted, and I don't have time or energy for that. I'll just firefight and remember that it gets better as they get older and hopefully she'll space out her feeds soon and fall into a "pattern" by herself like dd1 did.

Original poster

margherita76 · 14/10/2010 22:23

moonunit - what do you mean a topup? he feeds then plays/ grunts / wobbles etc then a little feed then back to sleep?

Ayjay - what is the cherry thing?! The dummies I have seen don't look anything like my nipples - does that make a difference?

Interesting about the growth spurt angeldog, that makes sense. Perhaps i should just stop with the dummy. For now anyway.

Petisa, I am with you on the being lazy thing. I don't know how you manage with small baby AND a todder. Maybe that'll be me one day! I do worry about routine but after such reassurance I realize I probably worry more about what I think I should be doing, rather than what I am actually doing. So thanks everyone!

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MoonUnitAlpha · 14/10/2010 22:34

For example, he wakes up at 8am and has a big feed, then is normally ready for a nap by about 9.30am so I take him into the bedroom and give him a little feed then he's back to sleep. So he has big feeds at 8/11/2/5/8 with two or three little feeds before naps in the day.

I also initially bought the fancy flat-tipped silicone orthodontic dummies but ds didn't like them - went back for the old "cherry" latex style.

BaggedandTagged · 15/10/2010 04:01

I'm similar to Moonunit. Have a 4 wk old and I aim for every 3 hrs (so wake him up if it's been 3 and no sign of movement) but sometimes he's hungry after 2/2.5 and if so I just go with it. At night (10pm to 8am) I just feed on demand and this varies a lot from 5hrs to 2hrs.

The advice I was given at the hospital was to try to encourage him to go for longer feeds from birth (i.e. wake him up if he's dozing at the breast and get him to have a full feed)and it seems to have worked but I was also lucky in that he seems to just be programmed that way.

I dont top up before naps but I do use a dummy to settle him.

ayjayjay · 15/10/2010 06:30

Cherry soother link here. Basically they are the old fashioned ones that usually have a yellow/orange bulb shaped bit to suck instead of a flat thin clear plastic bit.

p.s. I hope my nipples don't look like that :)

I was also told my midwifes to try to increase feed length from 10mins to 20 mins every feed. However DD always fell asleep within 10 mins and nothing would rouse her. I even used to take all her clothes off mid feed to no effect. After about 6-8 weeks she started doing longer feeds by herself. I think sometimes babies just do their own thing.

Graciescotland · 15/10/2010 06:43

I introduced the baby whisperer(ish) routine at six weeks. DS now eight weeks. TBH it seems to be working DS is sleeping more and having big feeds rather than snacking constantly. He seems a lot more content too.

Tigresswoods · 17/10/2010 20:57

I had nothing resembling a routine until 4+ months

Tryharder · 17/10/2010 23:08

Am with Tigress...I just potter along doing all the "wrong" things - according to my mum, at least - feeding on demand, baby sleeps on me and then all of a sudden around 5 months, baby goes into a fantastic routine all by itelf . DD is currently 12 weeks old so we have a while to go...

I sort of envy women who have their bf babies into strict routines at a young age....I don't know how they do it and it would certainly make life a bit easier. At the moment, my sole parenting rule seems to be "baby opens its mouth, has nipple stuck in it"

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